There is a clinic in Brighton called wellBn (or maybe wellBN1). They are very trans positive and will take patients from all across the country to allow them or access gender affirming care. They currently have a wait list of 2 months or so to get seen, but that’s not bad. Might be worth checking their website and shooting them an email.
Needed to hear this thank you!
I’m in a not dissimilar position to you, right down to the childhood karate, and really resonate with your post. Except I’m 4 years older and my relationship has been going for 4 years older. It’s always weird and scary to understand these things, and can be very hard to share with your partner. I’ve been talking to a therapist about some of this stuff recently and they recommended reading the work of Meg John Barker, particularly the material on plurality. They have a lot of material available on line for free and it’s all short, really worth a read. The guist of it is that as a person you are likely plural, made up of multiple different “personas” that can be thought of the sources of various emotions/feelings, and it’s likely that one of more of them are not the gender you’re assigned at birth. You can embrace this at times without fully transitioning, or use it as a way to experiment 5o see if you want to live full time as a woman. I have so much respect for the girls here who have done it, but it looks like a challenging ordeal, even once you’re passing, and it is further complicated by already being in a cis het relationship with someone you love, means there is a lot more on the line. Wish you all the best in figuring all this out (and maybe when you do you can let me know xD )
Not necessarily trans fiction, but an incredible book with an amazing deconstruction of gender, highly recommend.
Have you read The Dispossessed?
This is inspirational
I’m afraid I’ve no idea of costs, I presume just the NHS prescription charge so £9 per med. Yea their website is not great but if you email them a person will get back to you and they’re super helpful and friendly. They’ve helped out a lot of trans people (and got a lot of stick from the Telegraph etc). I don’t even think you’ll need to travel, online appts and then pick up from your pharmacy. Best of luck!